ODYSSEY Media Group Sports Staffer Michael Campbell poses with iliad Outreach Director Salai Diekumpuna at the Georgia Scholastic Press Association Spring Conference. Campbell sought to challenge himself by joining the ODYSSEY Media Group, and found a community. “Although I have only been in ODYSSEY for a couple of months, I feel like I have been with these people all year and I have been able to lean on them for guidance and help.” Photos courtesy of Michael Campbell
Sports Staffer Michael Campbell describes his experience with joining the ODYSSEY Media Group in the second semester of his senior year.
I have been in ODYSSEY this semester and it has been a tough but rewarding experience. I have enjoyed taking the class and learning more about journalism. I had always heard about ODYSSEY and I was in Gifted Minorities Achieving with Mr. Ragsdale; I knew he was the one who ran the class, but I didn’t have the desire to take the class.
Fast forward to this year I saw that my schedule would allow me to take ODYSSEY. I met with him and here we are. After COVID, the school began to relax on deadlines and missing work and I wanted to be able to have a class with hard deadlines and have to do a lot of work in a shorter amount of time. I also wanted to grow in my writing and I have seen that through the Creative Writing Project and other assignments.
I do not plan on pursuing a career in Journalism but in this class, I have learned how to conduct interviews and be able to think on my feet with questions and interact with stakeholders. I wouldn’t have understood what it was like to be a part of the ODYSSEY family and be at the 2)th Anniversary and see the lasting impression it makes on you.
Although I have only been in ODYSSEY for a couple of months, I feel like I have been with these people all year and I have been able to lean on them for guidance and help.